Teacher Journal

On my last day of student teaching, my cooperating teacher gave me an ordinary spiral notebook. She glued a name tag on the front and wrote my name in her perfectly cute handwriting. She told me to keep a journal of my first year teaching. It was a darling gesture, but secretly I thought, "ain't nobody got time for that!" I packed it away in one of the many boxes I had hoarded away for my first classroom. Two months later I got my keys and had 3 full days to set up my room. I didn't know much about my kiddos yet, but I figured out how to set up the tables and put up a couple cute things. Well.... then came the first day of school. Woah. What just happened. Did I eat? Did I pee? Who knows. I saw the Journal in a pile of stuff I still hadn't organized, but I didn't pull it out. If every day was going to be like the one I just had, there is no way in heck I'm going to have time to keep a journal. Next thing I remember was it was Friday after school. I got my kids on to the bus even if they were kicking a screaming. I sat in my desk chair and looked around at the pandemonium that was my once organized and cute classroom. I started reflecting on what worked and what didn't. I knew that some seat changes needed to happen and maybe a little furniture rearranging. I got the Journal out to sketch my class. I'm a visual gal and needed to map it out. Before I knew it I was jotting down memories and thoughts of how to be better prepared for the first few days next year. (Was is bad that I was already looking forward to next year??) This simple spiral notebook with my name on the front helped me reflect on my class, my students, and my self as a teacher. It helped me feel empowered that I could make positive changes and was in control of the chaos. It helped me when I needed a little encouragement or felt like leaving myself a love note. If you don't have one, I would highly suggest investing the $2 and few minutes it takes. I plan on having one for the foreseeable future.